Israeli forces detain 5 Palestinians in predawn military raids

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces carried out predawn military raids across the occupied West Bank on Sunday, detaining at least five young Palestinians, including at least three minors.

The Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS) released a statement saying that two 15-year-old boys, identified as Muhammad Nashat Hamamra and Zeid Muhammad Hamamra, were detained the village of Husan west of Bethlehem in the southern occupied West Bank.

In the northern district of Qalqiliya, PPS said that 24-year-old Said Ziyad Abu Haniyeh was detained in the town of Azzun, and that Israeli forces detained 24-year-old Abdullah Muhammad Shatat in the village of Biddya in the central Salfit district.

An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed two detentions were made in Husan, as well as one in Biddya and one in Azzun.

The army spokesperson did not confirm, however, the detention of 17-year-old Mahmoud Muhammad Sarsour in Qaddura refugee camp in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah, as reported by PPS.

Israeli forces carry out detention raids across the occupied Palestinian territory on a near-nightly basis, with the UN recording an average of 95 weekly raids in the West Bank in 2016, and 100 weekly raids on average thus far in 2017.

According to prisoners’ rights group Addameer, 6,500 Palestinians were being held in Israeli prisons as of January, including some 300 minors.